Praise in the Sabbath

"It is good to praise the Lord

    and make music to your name, O Most High,

proclaiming your love in the morning

    and your faithfulness at night,."

Psalm 92:1-2

(Read all the verses here)

Liturgy was a passion in my ministry. The passion included finding ancient prayers, prayers from other cultures, and contemporary ones. I would dig deep into the history of hymns, chants, and songs and their best uses in worship. For me it was and continues to be an ongoing journey. Part of that ongoing journey includes several learnings. 

• For example, what is acceptable in one church is not in another. 
• It's necessary to explain the meaning of an addition to the worship service or it will be misunderstood. 
• For some, the Sermon most important part of worship, for others its the singing of hymns.

What liturgy provides is a structure in the midst of crisis. The world may literally be falling around you, but the liturgy in Sunday's service is the same. Fear and anxiety may abound, but the liturgy is a safe structure pointing beyond now to a future in God's hands.

On the Sunday following 9/11 a Peace Candle and "Let there be Peace on Earth" was added to a worship service. This was a safe structure in a time of fear and anxiety.

Psalm 92 begins by stating that praising the Lord is a good thing. This seems obvious, but when God’s people worship because of deep gladness coming from recognizing God’s mighty works of salvation, the praise will be lively and flourishing.

The conviction of Psalm 92 is that God is faithful, that the Lord reigns on high forever and the Lord is present just as the sun is new every morning.